New policy helps police combat bath salts - Atlanta News, Weather, Traffic, and Sports | FOX 5

Police in Gwinnett County are now using extreme measures to combat the drug bath salts.

Authorities are going after businesses that may not be breaking the law. Police say the move is necessary because the drug is so out of the ordinary that it's like fighting a fog.

Bath salt is a powder made of chemical combinations that can be smoke, inhaled or injected.

Gwinnett County officials said one man on the drug threatened to eat officers and had to be Tased more than a dozen times.

Another man was arrested last week was eating his own feces, officers said.

Experts say the synthetic narcotic is similar to PCP because of the volatile delusions it gives users.

While Georgia has made bath salts illegal, some stores are still able to sell the drug because of technicalities in its makeup.

"When we get a batch, and the legislature takes it, adds it to the law of illegal substances or drugs, then the chemist who are making the stuff alter the compound just enough to keep it legal," said Cpl. Jake Smith of the Gwinnett County Police Department.

The Georgia Drug and Narcotics Agency has given local jurisdictions the power to take bath salts and synthetic marijuana without a warrant.

Gwinnett County police used the new policy for the first time on Friday at a Lawrenceville smoke shop, where an officer removed more than 30 packets.

If any of those synthetic drugs turn out to be on the illegal list, the store owner will face charges.

But if the products are currently legal, the police department will still hold on them because they're classified as dangerous.

The Lawrenceville business owner told FOX 5 that the law is costing her a lot of money, but police say extreme measures are needed in this fight.